Journey Jottings

June 2010

We believe memories from holidays and short breaks deserve just as much attention as those from a major trek ~ Its not the length that matters, its what you do with it
And when it comes to jotting those few notes that will jog the memory when nostalgia strikes, I advocate the shorter the better (Check out my *Best Kept Travel Secrets* for some pointers there!)

We exist so when your annual holiday would otherwise be but a distant memory, you’ll have a visual keepsake!

We do what we do so, for those who can’t imagine keeping a journal for a non-journeying holiday, you can now arrow in where you went on a hand drawn pictorial map and jot memorable moments in the surrounds, so this year’s holiday will be simply summarized on a single sheet for future reminiscing!

Have you highlighted your holiday adventures?

———————————————————————-

At the end of each month I enter a Journey Jottings highlight on a Map Journal so at year’s end I’ll have 2010 simply summarized on a single sheet ~ The image above is June’s entry.

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see ‘my year at a glance’ so far

My good friend Kirsty Wilson from Travel Tips Plus wrote a blog post last week entitled ‘Souvenirs:  Postcards from Travel Destinations”.

I posted the link onto our Facebook page asking:

“Do you keep all the PostCards you receive?”

Kirsty's Fridge Door

Photo: Travel Tips Plus

“I keep them!” piped up Charley Jones

And Sarah Mitchell responded:

“I don’t but my sister-in-law recently showed me a shoebox full of postcards I’d sent to her kids over 15 years of international travel. It was a very cool record. I had forgotten about some of it.”

Despite the best of intentions, one does forget!

Sarah’s statement brilliantly exemplifies how even a few words, in this case on the back of a postcard, is all it takes to bring back otherwise forgotten travelling adventures ~

So… next time you are away and writing a few postcards, take a few moments to jot down the equivalent of a postcard to yourself in a small notebook jotter, and at the end of the holiday pop it in an envelope (with a selection of pretty local stamps) and post it home to yourself  ~ Postmarked envelopes are like passport stamps in that they mark where you were and when. On your return you’ll have the fun of receiving mail from this far flung location with a neatly parcelled chapter full of memory joggers encapsulating your latest escapade.

Check out my Best Kept Travel Secrets for other ways to

*highlight your holiday adventures*

With the coming of the  school holidays here in Australia and their associated car trips with children, to help alleviate the ‘Are we there yet?‘s, I’ve created an Eye Spy game with the aid of either of our maps ~ the Map Journal, which is A2 size, or a little Mail-It Map that is A3 size.

1.  See how many animals you can spot on a Journey Jottings Map ~

(Clue: There are 27 different creatures illustrated)

Journey Jottings Map of Australia

2. When, after a period of time, only ”some’ have been found and the need for a few pointers are required ~

Click this link:  How many animals can you find LIST

and print out ready to provide either a list that can be called out one by one, or if the child can read to mark off the animals as they are found.

Some are fairly easy such as this kangaroo…

Kangaroo

3. When it gets to the point of needing a few visual clues, have the pages in this

Click link: Find the Animals

ready printed out, which offers pictures of what to look for

Such as this koala…

Koala

Some are a little more tricky to spot than others, such as this crocodile

Crocodile

Now, where could he be lurking?

There is one ‘sneaky’ animal, and that is the platypus, who is only visible by the ripples he’s making on the water’s surface, which is accurate in that that is usually all you do see of them!

Platypus

Is he too shy to show himself?

Looking for other car game ideas?

This time last year I posted the Post Office Passport game ~ For this, children have to Eye-Spy the red Australia Post Office  ”P” symbol, which then requires a pit stop so as to get your Map Journal or Mail-It Map rubber stamped with the individual postmark for that location ~

And here is a link to ’10 fun family games for travel time’

Happy travels

Tuesday Tip :

At the end of each month I jot down on one of our Map Journals what has been the main highlight for that month, so at the end of the year (and for the fun of future reminiscing) I’ll have the year simply summarized on a single sheet ~

The highlight for May was the expansion of our Map Magnet range! Back in January we launched the first of our Map Magnets, which covered 22 regions across the country ~ We’ve added a further 8 areas so now we have 30 Map Magnets covering most of Australia!

And for something new for me…. here is a little video clip ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tp-kclvroY

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see a synopses of my year at a glance

When I go travelling I never take a generic journal, bought prior to the trip, away with me.

One of my ‘travel secrets‘ is to buy a small (my preference is an A6 sized) jotter/notebook in each country/region I visit so associations of the travel journal are connected to the place – It also means I get to have my first interaction with the locals as I make it’s purchase.

On the first day of my recent trip to Scotland I sought out a local supplier of stationery ~ in this instance the local newsagent ~ and purchased an A6 x 80 page notebook with the blue and white cross of St Andrew Scottish flag on the front, and the yellow and red Royal flag of Scotland on the back.

Not keen on feeling I have to make time, for what otherwise requires an obligatory evening journal writing session, my favourite way of recording my travels is to stop and take stock at pertinent moments in the day and simply jot a few words of response to what I can see, what I can hear, what I can feel, what I can smell and what in the atmosphere I can taste, that will serve as memory joggers years later when the moment for nostalgia strikes.

See, Hear, Touch, Smell, Taste

I find this technique cuts to the chase and omits obvious mundane words such as ‘I went for a walk…’

I also like to bring encounters with people I meet along the way more alive by incorporating their notations in my jotter too! When in Cairnsmore Nature Reserve I was having trouble finding the location of a sculpture located on the top of a mountainous cliff – I met a girl who sketched this mudmap for me to follow, which being in a rugged moorland area with blanket bog of varying depths of peat, I was most grateful for ~ It’s also a great reminder of my conversation with her

Mudmap

Once filled, or as the trip draws to a close, I make a visit to the Post Office and select as many pretty stamps as possible and post it home ~

Postbox at Cairn Holy, Scotland

Its such fun opening the mail box and finding a package from a far flung place…

My Mail Box in Australia

Adorned with local stamps and precious overseas postmarks that fix the trip in time

Scottish stamps and precious local postmarks

These stamps illustrate the monarchy of Scotland – On the right is Mary, Queen of Scots 1542 – 1567 and to her left is James Vl, King of Scots 1567 – 1625 (becoming James l King of England and Ireland 1603 to 1625) ~ The stamps on the left portray the Thistle, Scotland’s floral emblem and the lion rampant of the Royal Standard of Scotland

Its great, a week after returning home to receive my holiday memories encapsulated in a jotter; walleted in an envelope that is adorned with stamps from the country/region I have not long before visited and date stamped for future musings…

revealing another chapter of my travelling life

Tuesday Tip:

Map Journals are great for ‘simply’ summarizing where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing ~ on a single sheet

March & April 2010

Within days of returning from the Sydney Trade Fair at the start of March, I flew off to Scotland (click  ‘Scotland‘ under ‘Tag Cloud’ or ‘Great Britain‘ under ‘Topics Talked About’ in the column to your right to read all about that trip!)

Up, Over & Out of Australia

Each month this year I’m entering a highlight into one of the jotting boxes so at year’s end I’ll have a visual keepsake for 2010 ~

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see my year at a glance :D

Tuesday Tip 7:

I’m notating the highlights of each month in a jotting box on this Map Journal so at the end of the year 2010 will be laid out before me…

simply summarized on a single sheet

February 2010

Highlight for February for me was that we published our Special Edition Map Journal, which I then took to Sydney for a trade fair

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see a synopses of my year at a glance

Tuesday Tip 6:

I started this Tuesday Tips section to answer some of the most common questions or comments I hear about our Map Journals ~

This week:

“My handwriting would spoil it”

Take inspiration from these beautiful scribbly gum tree markings

I don’t think you can ever argue with nature, when it comes to beauty

No matter how scrawly your handwriting is, there is still  a pattern to it and while when you start you may think it looks too un-perfect I can assure you that when all the boxes are filled there will be a unifying style that will actually bring the whole sheet together.

No matter how ‘messy’ (and self critically) you think at the time it may look, spontaneity speaks louder than words, and your quick scribbly jottings conveying the fun of the moment is what you will see in years to come – not that you’ve dotted the i or crossed the t

Tuesday Tip 5:

Do you ever get to the end of a year and say -

Where did the time go?

What did I do? Where did I go? And when exactly was that?

Book type journals are great for all the detail, but they just don’t cut it for seeing the year at a glance.

So for each month of this year I’m going to jot just one or two highlights in each of the boxes on a Map Journal so when I get to December the year 2010 will be laid out before me ~

simply summarized on a single sheet!

January 2010

I get the impression this year has started brightly ~

Click on the ‘2010‘ tag to see my year at a glance

Tuesday Tip 4:

Often overheard upon first seeing a Map Journal –

‘Oh, if only I were going on a major trip, or doing the big lap?’

(i.e. travelling all the way around Australia)

Why, only if you’re doing a ‘big’ trip?

Aren’t annual holidays and last minute weekend breaks away to the beach just as much fun to remember?

How many times have you heard people say…

“‘We stayed at the most gorgeous little place, now… ummmm what was it called?”  

So, next time you’re heading off over the hills on hollers, decide to go on a spontaneous short sortie, or simply enjoy a long weekend away with the family…

take a Map Journal to arrow in the ‘where’ and jot down those names…

before you forget!  :)